


Third Flight

by Swords_and_Parasols



Category: Haibane Renmei
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 18:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3820597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swords_and_Parasols/pseuds/Swords_and_Parasols
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another Haibane prepares to leave Old Home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Third Flight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Laiska](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laiska/gifts).



Rakka clapped her hands together as if to get the dust off of them, even though she knew there was no dust. She just liked the feel of it. It had taken a lot of work, but they'd finally made her old room completely spotless, with only basic furniture in it, after moving her belongings to Reki's old room. Hopefully, the twins would want to share a room when they hatched, because they'd also moved the bunkbeds in.

She almost yelped when a heavy weight settled on her shoulders, but realized it was Nemu before she gave herself away. Always lethargic, Nemu had recently developed a habit of draping herself over the other older haibane, almost as if she had intended to hug them, but decided halfway through that it was too much effort.

"This looks really nice, Rakka. You and the young feathers did a great job making this fit for two people."

"Thanks! It's amazing how motivated those kids get when you bribe them with extra snacks."

"What did the house mother say about that?"

Rakka suspected her grin might have been slightly evil when she replied "I bribed her too." Taking over Reki's job as the primary caregiver of the young feathers had been easy. It hadn't taken too long, though, to learn that while they paid less attention to her yelling than they had Reki's, subtler methods were more effective on them. Once she'd learned how to manage them, she got enough productivity and obedience from the young feathers to make them managable.

Nemu absently sniffed Rakka. "You smell like Reki."

"Well, I am staying in her room now, and it still smells like her cigarettes," Rakka replied, avoiding the real reason she always smelled a bit like cigarettes. "Aren't you going to be late for work? I mean, late for you."

"I suppose," Nemu replied as she began to shamble away. "I'll bring a couple pictures from my room over tonight. A little color will make it look less small."

***

The next morning, Nemu came down to breakfast with a large stack of books that she could barely see over. The books would have ended up scattered over the floor when Nemu was startled by a pair of racing young feathers, but Kana saved the books-and Nemu, anmd tied them together with a rope as she scolded Nemu for her carelessness. Rakka recognized the books as ones Nemu had taken from the library some time before, but kept forgetting to return.

After breakfast, Kana unceremoniously grabbed Rakka by the arm and dragged her outside despite her protests. Since this sort of manhandling wasn't unusual for Kana, particularly when it came to Rakka, no one else paid the two girls much attention.

"Hey, do you think Nemu's been acting a little weird lately?" Kana hissed in what passed as whisper for her as Rakka freed her arm, even though no one else was around to hear them.

"Nemu's always a little weird."

"Well, yeah, but yesterday, she dragged me in her room to try on some dresses she said she didn't need anymore."

Rakka's eyes widened. "You're right, trying to put you in a dress really is weird."

"Not for me! She said one of the cocoons for the new Haibane is about the same size mine was, and she wanted to see if some of her old dresses could be altered. Nemu never alters clothes! And now she's taken so many books from her room to take back to the library that she needs the scooter to get to town, and she doesn't like the scooter."

"That does sound a little odd," Rakka conceded, "but she doesn't seem unhappy or worried about anything."

"I guess. But...I mean...doesn't it remind you of, you know, before, when..." Rakka nodded as Kana's words trailed off. Kana still had trouble talking about Kuu, even if her initial grief had been less dramatic than Rakka's own. The truth was, Rakka had been noticing that Nemu was acting a little odd for some time, she had just been trying to avoid thinking about what it meant. If Nemu's Day of Flight was coming soon, which it probably was, she didn't want to dwell on it. Rakka knew that Nemu would only feel bad if she thought they were worried about her, and while she didn't want Nemu to leave Old Home, she didn't want Nemu to feel that she had to stay behind for the others, especially without Reki. Before Rakka could answer, though, everyone heard Hikari shrieking from upstairs that it was time.

****

The twins weren't quite twins; despite hatching from their cocoons at the same time, they looked very alike, but one was a few years older than the other. In their cocoons, they had had similar dreams, but not quite the same. They described an identical field beside a river. In the older sibling's dream, it was fall and the trees were dying, and there was no sound. In the younger one's dream, it was springtime and all the trees were blooming, and the air was filled with laughter.

They were named Aki and Haru.

*****

Three days later, Rakka ventured into Old Home's clocktower. This was generally considered a dangerous pursuit by the residents. Kana had taken over the clocktower some time ago, and spent her days off attempting to find a way to make the old clock work without making the bells constantly ring. As a result, the clocktower, including the stairs , was littered with various types of debri. The debri was largely a mixture of discarded materials and charts, though she suspected she'd find a few dishes that had gone missing from Old Home's kitchen if she looked hard enough. There was also the danger of being hit by a projectile, but Rakka had decided to risk it today.

When she called Kana's name, she received a yelp and a crash from above her in reponse, and then Kana's head poked out from the side of a platform above her.

"Rakka! A little warning next time!"

"Sorry, I just thought you'd want to know."

"Hang on!" There was several more loud noises, and then Kana came down a ladder so that they wouldn't have to shout. "Know what? Is anything wrong?"

"No, nothing like that. But, I checked Nemu's room. She stripped her bed of all the sheets, and and her clothing was folded and on her mattress."

"Oh, did she...did she say anything this morning?" Rakka could tell Kana was trying to keep her voice calm, but there was still a slight tremble, much like Rakka had trouble keeping her own voice completely steady. Neither of them were as ready for Nemu's flight as they'd want everyone to think they were the next day.

"Not to me. But, I mean, you aren't supposed to, right? To tell anyone, I mean."

"I guess not. Do you think she's already left?"

"I don't think so. I mean, there hasn't been the pillar of light yet."

"Do you...do you want to stay and watch with me? For when it happens, I mean. You can see the forest from here."

"No, I'll watch from my room. I can see the forest from there, too, and the younger feathers and new feathers might need me after the house mother leaves." And because, as much a she wanted to be matured and collected this time-and for any of Flights that might come before her own-she knew she was would probably cry. 

"Ok. I'll make Hikari come up when she gets home from work though. Ok?"

***

Rakka went back to her room, glad that Kana wouldn't be alone, even though she didn't think she could wait with Kana herself. She lit one of Reki's cigarettes and set it in the ashtray, careful to place it where none of the ashes would land on the necklace Nemu had left piled beside it, if there was a wind, and went to the window to wait to say goodbye to her friend.


End file.
